The Formation of the Eucharist

The earliest Christians were Jewish. As devout Jews they worshipped each Sabbath in their synagogues. Synagogue worship began with a reading from the law, that is, one of the first five books of the Bible. This was followed by some form of singing, often one of the Psalms. Then there was a reading from one of the books of the prophets, followed by a sermon or teaching explaining what was read. There were also prayers, which may have been at the end, or perhaps at the beginning.

Since the earliest Christians were Jewish, they followed this pattern of prayer on Saturday, the Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath. This service was called the synaxis, and the form of this original synagogue worship as celebrated by Christians was as follows: 1. Opening greeting by the officiant, the person who led the service, and the reply of the congregation. 2. Lessons from the Old Testament, the Pentateuch and the Prophets, separated by a psalm and hymns, as well as readings from the gospels or letters such as the letters of Paul. 3. The sermon. 4. Dismissal of those who did not belong to the church. 5. Prayers. 6. Dismissal of the church.(1) There were also collections for the poor and for the expenses of the church. You will notice, point 6, that the early church dismissed non-believers since prayers were made in the name of Jesus and non-believers had not yet affirmed the name. Eventually, this requirement was removed from the worship service. Finally, the early Christian form of Synagogue worship was moved to Sunday where it became connected to the second part of Christian worship, the Holy Communion.

Just before his death, Jesus instituted what Christians have come to call the Lord's Supper or the Holy Communion. He was crucified at the time of Passover, and just before his death, he celebrated Passover with his disciples. He sent some of his disciples ahead of him to prepare the Passover meal which would have included the provision of bread and wine. At the meal, he interpreted the Passover bread and wine in terms of his body and blood, broken and shed for them. Here is Luke's description.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!" (Luke 22:17-22)

As you can see, Jesus commanded his disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me." After this Passover meal, Jesus and the disciples went to the Mount of Olives. It was there that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, and then, some hours later, he was crucified. Three days later, on the first day of the week, Sunday, Jesus was raised from the dead. For some time thereafter, he appeared to his disciples, and ate and drank with them (Acts 10:41). Since Jesus had commanded his disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me," had risen on the first day of the week, and had eaten and had drunk with his disciples in the resurrection, the early believers continued, on the first day of the week, to gather together to break bread and celebrate the Lord's saving work on the cross for their sake. As they did so, they used the forms found in Matthew. 26:17-29, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-23, and I Corinthians 11:17-34.

When the Christians gathered together they used only that part of the Passover service that Jesus had interpreted in terms of his sacrifice for them on the cross. This is called the Holy Communion. In the beginning this service was not connected to the synaxis, but was a separate service. It contained four moments:

1. An offering of the bread and wine and other gifts were brought forward and placed on a table or altar. The person who presided at this service, called the "celebrant" took the bread and wine as Christ did before his death. This is called the offertory. 2. Then the celebrant gave thanks for the bread and wine as did Christ. This is called the "Eucharistic Prayer" or "The Great Thanksgiving." 3. Jesus then broke the bread, which when done by the celebrant is called the "fraction." 4. Jesus then gave the bread and wine to his disciples, and at the Holy Communion, the bread and wine are given to the people.(2)

With the passage of time, the Eucharistic Prayer was lengthened to incorporate a number of the many biblical themes found in the scriptural understanding of Eucharist. When this was celebrated as a separate service the form was as follows: 1. Greeting and Response. 2. Kiss of peace. 3. Offertory. 4. Eucharistic Prayer. 5. Fraction. 6. Communion, the receiving of the bread and wine. 7. Dismissal.(3) You will notice that this service contained the kiss of peace as this was the way the earliest Christians greeted each other.

Beginning in the second century after Christ and completed by the fourth century, the synaxis was fused with the Holy Communion creating a worship service that began with the synaxis and ended with the Holy Communion.

Here is the resultant form:

1. Opening greeting by the officiant and reply of the congregation. 2. Lessons from the Old Testament and from the New Testament including an epistle (such as a letter of Paul's), and a reading from one of the four gospels. These lessons were interspersed with a Psalm and a hymn. 3. The sermon. 4. Prayers. 5. Kiss of Peace. 6. Offertory. 7. Eucharistic Prayer, also called The Great Thanksgiving. 8. Fraction. 9. Communion, the receiving of the bread and wine. 10. Dismissal.(4)

The entire service, synaxis and Holy Communion, is called the Holy Eucharist. There is a sample Holy Eucharist on this web site, A Liturgy for Eucharist. You will notice that the first section of the Holy Eucharist is called "The Word of God" rather than the synaxis, and the second major section is called the Holy Communion.

As time went on, these sections of the Holy Eucharist were developed with additional elements whose goal was to enable the believers to worship God more fully. Eventually, certain sections became excessively developed, and other sections were even omitted. This web page has two liturgies, A Liturgy for Eucharist as well as A Kenyan Liturgy. I think both of these liturgies give a balanced, full expression of a Christian form of worship, and I hope you find them most helpful.

Here are few questions for you to discuss. Worship is so important, and perhaps a thorough discussion of these questions can help your congregation to worship more effectively.

Questions for Discussion

1. Read the two liturgies given on this web page, A Liturgy for Eucharist and A Kenyan Liturgy. The "Liturgy for Eucharist" has the ten parts of the Eucharist designated with titles, the Kenyan liturgy does not. Take the time to see if the Kenyan liturgy has all ten sections, discovering where each section begins and ends.
2. Do you see any difference of emphasis in these two liturgies? Which would work best in your cultural context? If you are already worshipping with a liturgy, how does your liturgy differ from these two, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of these differences?
3. Is liturgical worship new to you? If so, have you worshipped in other traditions, and what was that like? If certain members of the group have been blessed by liturgical worship, please share your experience with the group. Are there ways in which liturgical worship can block the free and open worship of God? If so, how would you incorporate the freedom of the Spirit into liturgical worship?
4. As you study the rest of the lessons on the Eucharist, you might want to keep this question in mind: How can we as a congregation more fully worship God?

You will learn more about the Holy Eucharist in the following lessons, and at the end, after more time and study, you might want to incorporate some of our ideas into your worship.

Endnotes

1. The material on the formation of the Eucharist is taken from the classic text by Dom Gregory Dix. Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, (Glasgow: The University Press, 1945). For a discussion of the synaxis, see pp. 36ff.
2. Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, p. 48.
3. Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, pp. 103-140.
4. Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, pp. 434ff

The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.